More Choice

With declining revenue from brand sponsors in traditional media and an increasingly dispersed consumer base, organisations are keen to exploit the highly targeted, highly measurable, online audiences who either view content from their PC, or via an IPTV Set Top Box [STB] directly to their TV. 

Consumer behaviour is changing fast. As the success of online video forums such as You Tube demonstrates, consumers are hungry for new, personally relevant content, particularly in niche areas, and IPTV is perfectly suited to meeting these niche requirements, offering a far lower cost to market than satellite for audiences up to 250,000.

Furthermore, IPTV offers unparalleled measurability, recording who is watching, for how long and where they are located. Organisations can combine online TV with video on demand and create a mix of subscription and free services, bolstered by advertising to maximise revenues and increase the average value of existing consumer audiences. Add in interactivity and organisations now have the nirvana of a highly measurable, one on one consumer conversation.

With the pace of deployment and broadband access accelerating, this shifting behaviour becomes ever more significant. With only an average broadband speed of 1.5 Mbps required to watch streaming content, the potential market for IPTV is now immense. And this is a global phenomenon. Indeed, the number of global IPTV subscribers is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (cagr) of 92.1 percent to 63.1 million in 2010, from 2.4 million in 2005. And the global IPTV subscriber base is expected to generate more than $27 billion in overall services revenue in 2010 – according to IPTV Forum.

Complex Market

There is no single, out of the box solution for successful IPTV. From the trade magazine looking to leverage a strong readership via an online channel to the sporting body selling subscription to International matches that are not screened on the main channels, such as the recent Ukraine vs England World Cup qualification game, the revenue mix and business model will be unique and must be tailored to each organisation.

Yet as many companies look to leap headfirst into the IPTV market, few appear to be even considering either revenue or business model. This is undoubtedly a market in its inception and, as such, raises significant commercial and technical concerns.  But that is no excuse for failing to take a business and revenue driven approach from day one. 

Proven Value

Opting for an independent solution that can repurpose content on the fly – both between platforms and to support increasing bandwidth – offers future proofing and a far broader opportunity. Furthermore, working with an organisation that has already successfully delivered IPTV content that delivers measurable revenue will enable an organisation to bypass the expensive three to six month experimentation phase and leapfrog the competition.

Today too many of the IPTV platforms are simply throwing content online regardless of value or corporate objective. While proving the viability of the technology this approach is doing little to meet consumer requirements or enable organisations to attain real understanding of IPTV’s potential business value.

Combine a savvy consumer base with a rapidly changing media mix and organisations cannot really afford to dabble in IPTV. From lock-in to the wrong platform to irrelevant consumer content or incorrect business model, the risks of getting it wrong are high. Without consultancy and technical enablement, organisations will struggle to maximise this vast potential opportunity.

IPTV is undoubtedly the future; the ease of use and access, inherent measurability and consumer targeting offer unbeatable benefits over traditional TV delivery methods and provide organisations with a fantastic revenue opportunity. Indeed, for those that get the right advice, leverage experience and open technology, the first mover advantage will deliver significant benefit to the bottom line.